Los Angeles - California is to get the first bullet train network in the United States, with trains capable of 350 kilometers per hour to whisk passengers between San Francisco and Los Angeles in under two and half hours.

California voter approval of a 9.95-billion-dollar bond in Tuesday's elections allows work to begin on the 44-billion-dollar high-speed rail project, which is expected to go into operation by 2020.

Los Angeles - The gloomy economy has cast a financial evil spell even over Disney's magic kingdom.

The entertainment giant reported Thursday that fourth-quarter profit fell 13 per cent as tourists stayed away from its worldwide resorts and advertisers cut back on television spots.

The company, which includes the ABC network and ESPN sports channels, said that net income declined to 760 million dollars, or 40 cents a share, from 877 million dollars, or 44 cents, a year earlier. The results included a 92-million-dollar loss from the Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy.

New York - Wall Street suffered big declines again Thursday, heaping losses in share prices on top of Wednesday's sharp selloff.

The two-day losses on benchmark US stock indices is now the sharpest since 1987.

Thursday saw news of continued heavy job losses in the US economy.

"We're a long way from the end of the economic challenges," Mike Morcos, an investment manager at Old Second Wealth Management, told the Bloomberg financial news agency. "Earnings next year are going to be significantly lower, and estimates are going to continue to come down."

Washington - President-elect Barack Obama spoke with world leaders by telephone on Thursday, two days after his election and ahead of next week's financial summit of the Group of 20 countries in Washington.

Obama spoke with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Mexican President Felipe Calderon and South Korean President Lee, broadcaster CNN reported.

Washington - Democrat Barack Obama won the presidency with a groundswell of support from youth, women, suburbanites and minorities, according to exit polls analyzed by various media organizations since Tuesday's vote.

Both Obama and McCain got 28 per cent of their support from independents, however.

Obama also benefited from what is expected to have been an unprecedented turnout projected at 133.3 million, or 62.5 per cent of eligible voters, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Washington - In an ironic twist, the US will be celebrating the 200th birthday of president Abe Lincoln - the US leader who ended slavery - just weeks after the inauguration of its first black president, Barack Obama.

Thus, it's hardly surprising that the theme of Obama's January 20 historic inauguration will be dominated by Lincoln, a president who also took office as the nation faced huge challenges.